Analysis of La Bella Mano
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)
O BELLA Mano, che ti lavi e piaci
In quel medesmo tuo puro elemento
Donde la Dea dell' amoroso avvento
Nacque, (e dall' onda s'infuocar le faci
Di mille inispegnibili fornaci):—
Come a Venere a te l'oro e l'argento
Offron gli Amori; e ognun riguarda attento
La bocca che sorride e te che taci.
In dolce modo dove onor t' invii
Vattene adorna, e porta insiem fra tante
Di Venere e di vergine sembiante;
Umilemente in luoghi onesti e pii
Bianca e soave ognora; infin che sii,
O Mano, mansueta in man d'amante.
O LOVELY hand, that thy sweet self dost lave
In that thy pure and proper element,
Whence erst the Lady of Love's high advènt
Was born, and endless fires sprang from the wave:—
Even as her Loves to her their offerings gave,
For thee the jewelled gifts they bear; while each
Looks to those lips, of music-measured speech
The fount, and of more bliss than man may crave.
In royal wise ring-girt and bracelet-spann'd,
A flower of Venus' own virginity,
Go shine among thy sisterly sweet band;
In maiden-minded converse delicately
Evermore white and soft; until thou be,
O hand! heart-handsel'd in a lover's hand.
Scheme | ABBAABBACBBXAB CBBCCDDCBBBEEB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111011 011111 111100101 1111101 1111 101011101110 1111111 11111111 0111111 1010110111 111111 101111 010111111 1101011010 1101111111 0111010100 1101011111 11010101101 101011011001 110111111 1111110101 0101111111 0101110101 01011010100 11011111 01010101000 101010111 111100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,101 |
Words | 202 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 435 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 99 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 83 Views
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"La Bella Mano" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7558/la-bella-mano>.
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